"So many of these new words show the impact of online connectivity to our lives and livelihoods," Sokolowski said.

Although many southerners will say that catfish has been a part of their vocabularies and diets for years, Merriam-Webster is now adding a secondary entry. "Catfish" can now also be defined as "a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes."

Catfish has been made popular in recent years thanks to a documentary and subsequent MTV reality TV show of the same name, starring Nev Schulman. It was also a pop culture buzzword during the Manti Te'o scandal in 2013.

"Never in a thousand years could we have imagined what a phenomenon Catfish would become," Schulman said in a statement. "Seeing this new definition in Merriam-Webster's dictionary is not only an honor for us, it is a reflection of how our experience in the film has now become a universal one, shared by people all over the world."

Also making the list are a number of culinary terms: pho, turducken and poutine. Another new word to many is freegan, defined as "an activist who scavenges for free food [as in waste receptacles at stores and restaurants] as a means of reducing consumption of resources."

An American regional description is also a part of the list - Yooper - which describes a person who lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The newest editions might make slang terms a bit more normal, but fuels a 2013 report that many adult vocabularies are shrinking, due in large part to information-seeking on tablets and smartphones.

Merriam-Webster's word of the year in 2013 was "science."

MW wants word-lovers of all types to take on the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #MW2014NewWords.